Ma Gui waved at Kawanishi. "Come on, what are you spacing out for?"
Kawanishi stood with his hands behind his back. "Just waiting a little longer…"
Ma Gui frowned. "Waiting for what? Hm? What's that behind you?"
Kawanishi grinned wickedly. "Why, I'm just waiting… to draw my weapon."
With a sharp gust of wind, the Black Cleaver appeared in Kawanishi's hands out of thin air. He spun and brought the massive weapon down in a sweeping slash aimed directly at Ma Gui's neck.
The sudden appearance of such a lethal weapon startled Ma Gui. What the hell?!
Ma Gui, who had been crouched low with his limbs on the ground, suddenly sprang up like a frog, leaping high above Kawanishi's head and dodging the strike to his throat.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Though the Black Cleaver had missed the first swing, Kawanishi immediately followed up. His lower body stayed rooted while his torso bent back dramatically. He locked eyes with Ma Gui hovering overhead.
With a savage upward sweep, Kawanishi swung the Black Cleaver in a crescent arc. The curved blade ripped cleanly into Ma Gui's spine, entering from the back and bursting through his chest.
Black demon blood spattered the ground.
Ma Gui roared in pain. "What the hell… are you doing?!"
Gritting through the agony, he opened his mouth wide and launched his tongue—a long, slimy, spike-covered appendage lined with backward barbs.
"So gross."
Kawanishi flipped his body midair. With the Black Cleaver embedded in Ma Gui's torso, he swung it down like a hammer, smashing Ma Gui straight into the ground.
Boom!
Crunch… crack…
The impact sent shockwaves through the earth. Half of Ma Gui's body was crushed flat, bones shattered and mangled.
"Why… why are you attacking me?"
He still couldn't comprehend Kawanishi's sudden outburst. Weren't they getting along just fine moments ago? Why the sudden betrayal?
Sure, demons could be unpredictable—but this was a direct violation of the orders from that lord…
Kawanishi's face twisted with fury. He lifted the Black Cleaver again.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
He didn't even bother slicing. He just smashed Ma Gui into the ground over and over again.
With his body already torn open, Ma Gui could no longer fight back. He struggled to heal, but Kawanishi's relentless attacks made regeneration near impossible.
"You… you still can't kill me…"
"When my comrades arrive, you're dead…"
"They'll be here any minute now."
Kawanishi paused, his rage briefly tempered by clarity. That's right—three more demons remained. He couldn't waste too much time on Ma Gui.
"…Thanks for the reminder."
"But there's one thing you got wrong."
"It's not that I can't kill you. I just wanted to vent a little first."
Kawanishi had the chance to finish Ma Gui off much earlier—his body had been vulnerable. But at that moment, bloodlust consumed him. All he wanted was to grind Ma Gui into paste.
Ma Gui coughed blood, chuckling through broken teeth. "You idiot… you don't even have a Nichirin Blade. How do you expect to kill a demon?"
"You think you can hold me off until sunrise? Your friends will rip you to shreds by then."
Kawanishi smirked. "Is that so?"
He shoved forward, dragging the Black Cleaver from Ma Gui's chest up through his face, cleaving him in half.
But Ma Gui's bisected body began writhing, the halves struggling to reattach.
"See?! Useless! Without a Nichirin Blade, you can't kill me!"
Kawanishi shook his head and looked at him with pity. "I just needed to get my axe free… to give you one last hit."
Ma Gui's eyes widened in shock. "You—!"
A flash of cold steel. The Black Cleaver sliced through his neck.
Ma Gui's gloating vanished, replaced by a scream of pure terror.
"Y-Your axe… it's like a Nichirin Blade…"
He could feel it. He couldn't regenerate. His body was failing. His mind fading. He was going to die.
Kawanishi said quietly, "Hey, I almost called it the Nichirin Axe at first. Of course it works like one."
"Go now. And if there's a next life… don't become a demon again."
Ma Gui's broken form began to crumble into black-red ash. The resentment in his eyes softened, as if some long-lost memory returned. He gave Kawanishi one final look—grateful—before closing his eyes.
Kawanishi could almost see it: a figure of light separating from the twisted demon body, drifting toward some unknown realm.
"Just like Black Fang…"
"Do demons recover their humanity… when they die?"
Kawanishi spread his Blazing Wings, preparing to absorb Ma Gui's remains.
But surprisingly, his wings didn't respond. There was no hunger, no eager pull—unlike before, when they had devoured Black Fang like a starved beast.
Now, they were oddly subdued.
Kawanishi frowned and manually directed his wings to absorb the black-red ash. The wings resisted at first, but finally complied. Even if reluctant, he needed the energy to maintain his strength—and to grow stronger.
After absorbing Ma Gui, Kawanishi clenched his fists. His demon body had become even stronger. He also felt a sense of fullness—he couldn't absorb another demon just yet.
Just as demons had limits on how much human flesh they could consume, Kawanishi, too, had an upper limit.
He needed combat to burn through that energy—to convert it into his own power.
Of course, most of that power would be wasted in the process. Still, every bit counted.
But Kawanishi frowned again.
There was no memory transfer this time.
His wings had absorbed Ma Gui's body, but filtered out his memories.
"…So, what standard are you using to decide what memories to absorb, Blazing Wings?"
No response.
There never was. Blood Demon Arts were something one had to figure out alone. Kawanishi still had much to learn about his own.
"Three more demons… I have to hurry."
"I won't let them destroy this town."
...
High above, Akaza sat calmly atop a tree branch, using his Blood Demon Art to sense what was happening in the town.
His art was called Destructive Death.
Its core technique, Compass Needle, allowed him to perceive a unique form of inner aura known as "battle aura"—present even in newborn infants.
Though humans couldn't sense it, Akaza could see it clearly—and it formed the foundation of a rapid, precise, high-power martial arts style.
With eyes closed, his lashes trembled slightly.
"Over there… two auras tangled together. Hm? Ma Gui's aura just vanished."
He opened his eyes slowly. "Looks like there's a Demon Slayer around."
"I wonder… are they strong enough to interest me?"
Akaza already knew Ma Gui had died, but didn't seem to care.
Instead, he watched that lingering aura with mild amusement, curious to see what the opponent would do next.
The aura wasn't bad—but still weaker than Doko and the others.
But aura wasn't the only way Akaza judged strength.
He hoped Kawanishi would surprise him.
Just then, a gentle breeze swept by.
Akaza raised an eyebrow and shifted, dodging smoothly.
He looked toward the new arrival.
"…Interesting."
(End of Chapter)